Criminal
by suburbantimewaster
Summary: When Sarah moved to the big city, she thought it was going to be lights and glamour. Instead, it's minimum wage with a low-grade house. It's not until Sarah meets a troubled gangster that she finally gets a shot at freedom. Will it be everything she dreamed of, or will she be pulled into a certain grasshopper's web of darkness that she can never escape? Hopper/OC


A/N: This is definitely the weirdest character to pair an OC with. Since I've made OCs for Ax from _Animorphs_ and Garak from _Star Trek: Deep Space Nine_ , I should know. It's just that I had this dream about _A Bug's Life_ and I couldn't get it out of my head. I saw the movie again in the longest time and I couldn't get this idea out of my head.

If you recognize it from _A Bug's Life_ , I don't own it.

* * *

"Sarah, you're up," her boss said as she finished serving another customer.

"Right, boss," Sarah said, flashing a smile to the customers seated around the bottle cap and twirling her right antenna. "Don't forget to leave a tip."

Then she winked at the customers and left for the stage represented by a large brick. It was time for the only part of her job that she loved, standing on a stage and singing her heart out. What could be better than the smiles of adoring fans as she poured her heart out to them? Instead, she got stuck with a crowd of bored looking bugs all concentrating on their food. The band played the song and Sarah knew it by the first few chords.

"Love, makes me treat you..." Sarah began, smiling seductively and keeping her eyes on the crowd.

All right, a few males paid attention to her, but Sarah couldn't really blame them. She had to admit that she was quite an attractive grasshopper with a forest green coloring streaked with purple (that took a great deal of work to maintain). Sarah's eyes were emerald green and her antennae was curled up to the front (it was not by natural design). Her face had a smooth look and yet a feminine sharpness to it that many bugs said made her look aristocratic. She had the typical body of a grasshopper with her abdomen pointed straight down to show she was a female with her abdomen and thorax equally proportioned and connected by a tiny waist. Her thorax had a generous point in front of it. Her upper left arm had four dangling bracelets and her lower left arm had two. She wore two designer rings each on her upper and lower right hands, one on each finger. Sarah also wore a pendant around her neck shaped like a music symbol. Her finger claws were long due to her refusal to cut them. Okay, Sarah wasn't a conventional beauty but that didn't stop the males from wanting her. Something she took full advantage of in her performance as she pointed to the audience, winked seductively and poured her heart into the lyrics.

"There's nothing too good," Sarah continued until she found herself lost in the eyes of a male grasshopper with a scar over his right dull one and the other one clear and brown, just like his skin. The male gave her a wink, making Sarah blush.

"Sarah!" her boss's voice yelled sharply, bringing Sarah back to reality.

"For a bug that's so true," she sang, getting herself back in the mood while still maintaining eye contact with the one-eyed grasshopper.

As soon as the song was finished, she addressed the audience.

"Thank you, everyone for listening, that was—"

"Hey, Babe!" an obnoxious voice yelled from the audience. "How about you come to my place and make some music with me?"

"That depends," Sarah said, feeling a bit of anger creep into her voice. "Will it be a funeral march?"

"Burn!" Another bug shouted.

"Hey, Sarah!" her boss yelled angrily. "That's a paying customer!"

"Right, sorry," Sarah said quickly, though not feeling apologetic in the slightest. "The restaurant will be closing in a few minutes. Now you don't have to go home, but you have to get the heck out of here."

* * *

Hopper kept his eye on the female with the purple streaks while his gang chattered endlessly about Archie's fantasy bugball team. That female had good looks, a great body and she had the voice to match. As far as he's concerned, she was as good as his. All he needed to do was make her see that.

"Hey, Hop!" Molt's annoying voice rang in his ear.

"What?" Hopper said threateningly as he turned to face Molt.

"Nothing," Molt said, backing down. "Just wanted your opinion on something."

"On what?" Hopper asked, his patience wearing thin.

"It's nothing," Archie said worriedly, holding his arms up like Hopper was going to punch him. "I just need one more runningback for my bugball team. Nothing you'd be interested in."

"Singapore the Centipede," Hopper said absentmindedly as he turned his eyes back to the crowd.

Great, thanks to Molt, he lost sight of that female.

"Actually, I think Carl the Millipede would be better," Loco said until he saw the glare Hopper gave him. "I take that back! You're better off with Singapore, Archie."

"Thanks guys, I'll be on fire at my next meeting," Archie said, making notes.

"Speaking of fire," Axel said, looking at the stage. "Did you see that hot little number on stage earlier?"

This perked Hopper's interest enough to give his full attention to his gang. They'd better not be talking about the same female he was searching for.

"You mean the one with the purple streaks and all that jewelry?" Molt asked innocently.

"Yeah, that sizzling number," Axel said proudly. "Did you see her checking me out?"

"What was that?" Hopper said, getting up from his seat and staring menacingly at Axel.

"I was talking about that sexy singer from earlier," Axel said in a frightened tone.

"I know exactly who you're talking about," Hopper said through gritted teeth like he was

"But, if you want her, you can have her, Boss. I mean, I'm sure I don't stand a chance against you." When Hopper's glare wouldn't light up, Axel quickly added. "Probably wasn't even me she was looking at. I just saw her looking at this table and got the wrong idea."

Hopper returned to his seat with a smug satisfaction. Then he went back to searching for that girl while adding as an aside. "You can have her when I'm done with her."

* * *

As soon as Sarah got off the stage, she went to the bathroom and took a look at herself in the mirror. She remembered the grasshopper with one eye who winked at her and she wanted to talk to him before he left. First, Sarah had to make sure she didn't need a little touch up. Her streaks were still good and her jewelry was still on. The only problem was her antennae was a little crooked. So, she straightened it and left the bathroom, ready to meet that grasshopper. Something Sarah would've done, if it weren't for a busboy bumblebee appearing out of nowhere.

"Hi, Sarah!" the bumblebee said in a high-pitched voice, putting his hand behind his head.

"Hey, Bumble," Sarah said absentmindedly as she pushed past him.

"I saw you on stage, today," Bumble said, following her like a lovesick aphid. "You're amazing! I mean, wow! There's nothing you can't do!"

"I don't know about that," Sarah said, looking around for a way to get rid of him. "Isn't there any tables you need to clean up?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something," Bumble said, looking down at his feet and kicking the floor. "You know that my cousin's getting married next month?"

"So you've told me," Sarah said, wanting to meet that one-eyed grasshopper but not wanting to bring Bumble with her.

"Well, I was wondering if you'd be my plus one," Bumble asked and then quickly softened the question, blushing like mad. "Not that it's a date! It's just two people who are good friends hanging out! In a romantic setting!"

"No thanks," Sarah said, heading to the bar.

"Are you sure?" Bumble asked bashfully. "There's music, dancing, drinking and my cousin got this great reception hall. Forgot the name of it."

"Bumble, I just want to collect my tips and go home," Sarah said exasperated, hoping Bumble would take the hint and leave.

"All right, see you tomorrow," Bumble said, waving at her as he headed for the exit. "Hope the boss doesn't give you too much trouble."

"So do I," Sarah said as Bumble left.

Sarah went to the bar to talk to the praying mantis who was going through the tip jar.

"Bugs sure did tip generously today," Sarah observed. "So, how much of it is mine?"

"Here," her boss said, putting a tiny amount of money on the bar.

"This is two percent?" Sarah said disbelievingly. "This barely qualifies as one percent."

"You lost money after you froze up on stage," her boss said.

When she saw the one-eyed grasshopper. She remembered.

"You do know that the whole point of tips is to give extra money to employees with small paychecks?" Sarah stated, taking the money off the bar.

"Don't get smart with me, Sweetheart," her boss told her arrogantly. "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even have a job."

"If it weren't for me, your restaurant wouldn't be such a success," Sarah pointed out.

"Are you serious?" her boss said, looking at Sarah like she lost her mind.

"I'm the one serving them, flirting with the male customers for tips and I'm the one who gets onstage and sings my heart out," Sarah said defensively. "Without me, your business would crumble."

Her boss laughed hysterically, something Sarah took advantage of as she removed a little bit of money from the tip jar.

"You think it takes brains to do what you do?" he asked her through laughs. "You're just a pretty face who can carry a tune. You quit and I can get a new girl just like that."

Meanwhile, she'll be out starving on the streets. Her boss took the tip jar and left, leaving Sarah by herself. She was about to lock up and leave until she saw a grasshopper sitting alone at a nearby table.

"We're closing up soon, so you might want to leave," Sarah told the grasshopper, who turned to reveal himself as the male with the blind eye. "Oh, it's you."

"You recognize me?" He asked Sarah proudly.

"Yeah, you're the one that winked at me when I was performing," Sarah said, not bothering to add that he was why she screwed up.

"Oh, you remember that?" the grasshopper asked her.

"What can I say?" Sarah said, flicking her antennae. "You really leave an impression."

"I can say the same about you," the grasshopper said, giving her a charming smile.

"You can?" Sarah said, feeling herself blushing.

"Yeah, you've got a star quality about you," the grasshopper told her, giving Sarah a onceover. "It's a shame you're wasting it in this dump."

"Thank you," Sarah said, giving him a smile that disappeared. "Wait a minute, are you a 'talent agent?'"

"What? No!"

"Because, I'll tell you right now, if this is one of those 'sleep with me and I'll make you a star' deals, I am not falling for that!" Sarah said, adding 'again' in her head as she put her hands on her hips. "I'll have you know that I am not some gullible bimbo for you to—!"

"Shut up!" the male grasshopper demanded shooting straight up out of his seat and then said calmly. "I'm not a talent agent."

Sarah was immediately taken back and not just by the male grasshopper's tone. He noticed that, for a male, he was quite tall. In fact, he was the exact same height as her. He was skinny, but not deathly skinny. It was then that Sarah could fully see how truly attractive and intimidating he was.

"Sorry," Sarah said, running her hand over her antennae. "It's just that you get so many fakes here it's hard to tell who's real."

"I'm guessing many of these bugs pretended to be talent agents," the male grasshopper said, looking Sarah in the eye.

"Yeah," Sarah said and then headed for the backdoor. "And celebrities, government officials, policemen, you name it,"

"Has anyone pretended to be Hopper?" he asked as Sarah locked the back door.

"Yeah, but it doesn't always go well," Sarah said, heading back to the kitchen.

"What do you mean?" the male asked, sounding a little offended.

"Well," Sarah began, checking to see if any appliances were plugged in. "Sometimes a trouble-making bug wants to beat 'Hopper' in a fight and they run out the nearest exit screaming. Other times, a cop tries to arrest him hoping to make a name for themselves and they admit that they're not Hopper." Sarah chuckled at the memories. "If you ask me, they're lucky the real Hopper never shows up." Sarah went back to the dining room, face to face with the male grasshopper. "Can't imagine he'd like having his name dragged through the mud like this."

"No, he wouldn't," the male grasshopper said seriously.

"I'd hate to sound rude, but could you leave the restaurant?" Sarah asked, gesturing toward the front door. "I'm locking up and I'm sure you don't want to spend the night in here."

"Sure," the male grasshopper said, opening the front door and gesturing for Sarah to walk out before him.

"Wow, you're a real gentlebug," Sarah said as she walked out.

Sarah waited for the male grasshopper to leave the restaurant and locked the doors.

"Name's Sarah, by the way," she told him.

"Hopper," he said.

Sarah laughed.

"What's so funny?" the male grasshopper asked offended.

"No offense, it's just that we were talking about fake Hoppers in the restaurant and here you are claiming to be the real one," Sarah said, between laughs. "Though, if it's any consolation, you're the most believable Hopper I've seen."

Unfortunately, this didn't cheer him up.

"I'll even tell you, if the real Hopper came along, I think you'd actually stand a chance against him," Sarah praised. "So, what's your real name?"

"Hopper," the grasshopper insisted, his eyes narrowing menacingly.

"All right," Sarah said, holding up her arms in surrender. "Nice to meet you, Hopper, but I've got to get home. Hope I see you at the restaurant again."

Sarah revealed her wings, flapped them and flew off, making sure to wave to the grasshopper. She found herself wondering why the grasshopper felt that he had to create a ruse like this. Oh well, if he wouldn't tell her his real name, she would humor him. Though a small part of her wondered if he was telling the truth. Wouldn't it be something if, after all those poser grasshoppers, the real deal actually showed up at her restaurant? If only she had that kind of luck.

* * *

Hopper flew back to his gang's hideout in a rage. Where did Sarah get the gall to accuse him of being a fake? He'd show her. All he had to do was prove to her that he was the real thing and she'd come crawling into his arms. As soon as Hopper got back, he snapped his fingers and saw his pet come barreling in.

"Thumper, I've got a job for you."

* * *

A/N: So, what do you think? I hope I created believable chemistry between Sarah and Hopper. I also hope that I got Hopper in character. The song Sarah's singing is Ain't I Good To You, which I thought was appropriate because I picked Susan Boyd as her singing voice. If you don't know who that is, she was Tina's singing voice in The Mask. That's right, it was not Cameron Diaz singing. As for who Sarah's speaking voice is, I went with Eliza Dushku. If you want, you can have a cameo in this story. Just PM me about it to discuss the details.


End file.
